Nutritional Advice

Please note that this section contains my personal notes from my readings on this topic.

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Cow’s milk contains the calcium people need, but other foods are rich in calcium too, including vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds. Today we do not need to rely on cows for our calcium. We can eat greens directly for calcium, the place where cows get it to begin with, and orange juice and soy milks are fortified with calcium and vitamin D too. It is easy to meet our nutrient needs for these substances without the risks of cow’s milk.

It is better if young children are weaned from the breast onto a diet of mostly real food. Many of today’s children utilize cow’s milk as their leading source of calories. That is why milk is the most common cause of iron-deficiency anemia in infants and young children. Milk is deficient in iron, and it can also bind with the iron that is found in other foods, preventing iron absorption. The inflammatory reaction against milk that often occurs in infants and toddlers can also cause microscopic bleeding in their digestive tracts, leading blood loss and anemia. Human breast milk is perfectly designed for little humans. Cow’s milk is perfectly designed for the baby cow.

The antibodies derived from mother’s milk are necessary for maximizing immune system function, maximizing intelligence, and protecting against immune system disorders, alelrgies, and even cancer. The child’s immune system is still underdeveloped until the age of two, the same age when the digestive tract seals the leaks (spaces between cells) designed to allow the mother’s antibodies access to the bloodstream. So picking the age of two as the length of recommended breast-feeding is not just a haphazard guess, it matches the age at which the child is no longer absorbing the mother’s immunoglobulins to supplement his own immune system. Nature designed it that way.

Breast-feeding for two years might be considered a prolonged time by today’s standards, but this practice offers significant protection against childhood diseases, including allergies and asthma. One recent study showed that breast-feeding for less than 9 months was found to be a risk factor for asthma and after that a period of time, the longer the child was breast-fed, the lower the risk of asthma. Avoiding cow’s milk proteins, even those found in infant formulas, has also been shown to reduce asthma occurrence.

A child is mostly eating solid food after one year of age, but it is a good idea to continue with some breast-feeding even if just twice a day until the second birthday. After weaning from the breast, the same qualities that make a healthy adult diet, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, make the best diet for children.

The bottom line is to have your children develop a taste for other wholesome drinks besides cow’s milk… Many options are available fortified with vitamin D, vitamin B12, and calcium. If using dairy products or milk, stick to the fat-free variety. The fat in our children’s diet should mostly come from avocados, nuts, and seeds, not cows.